The tractor sat in the field facing east and the east wind had been blowing for eleven days and the dust had covered it completely and the dust was gray and fine and it had gotten into the carburetor and the spark plugs and the oil pan and the oil had turned to a gray paste and the engine would not turn over and the tractor was a McCormick Deering model from 1928 and it had been new when the father bought it at the bank auction for three hundred dollars that he did not have and the dust covered the exhaust manifold and the front axle and the seat was torn and the tear was four inches long and the tear had been made by a piece of barbed wire in the summer of 1931 when the wind blew the gate open and the gate had no latch and the barbed wire had caught the seat and the seat had torn and the seat had not been repaired and the dust covered the tear and the dust covered the serial number and the dust covered the McCormick Deering logo and the dust covered the years and the dust covered everything and the tractor was gray and the field was gray and the sky was gray and the world was gray and there was nothing that was not gray.

The table was inside the house and the table was made of pine and the table had four legs and one leg was shorter than the others and the short leg had been wrapped with wire since 1929 and the wire had kept the leg from sinking into the floor and the table had a scratch across the surface that ran from the northwest corner to the southeast corner and the scratch was three feet long and the scratch had been made by a knife in the winter of 1932 when the father had cut his hand and the knife had continued cutting across the table and the cut in the table was half an inch deep and the cut exposed the raw wood beneath the finish and the raw wood was lighter than the finished wood and the raw wood absorbed the dust and the raw wood was darker than the finished wood and the table was darker than it had been and the table had rings on the surface from glasses and the rings were from cans of coffee and the rings were brown and circular and there were seventeen rings on the table and the seventeen rings were arranged in a pattern that was not a pattern and the pattern was where the cans had been set down and picked up and set down and picked up and the dust covered the rings and the dust covered the table and the dust was inside the rings and the rings held dust like tiny bowls and the bowls were full and the table was full and the table could hold nothing else.

The photograph was on the table and the photograph was eight by ten inches and the photograph was black and white and the photograph showed a man and a woman and a child and the man was standing and the woman was sitting and the child was sitting on the woman's lap and the man was wearing a suit and the suit was dark and the woman was wearing a dress and the dress was light and the child was wearing a white shirt and the white shirt was white in the photograph and the photograph had a white border and the white border was yellowing and the yellowing was from light and the photograph had been left against a window in the summer of 1930 and the sun had faded the border on one side and the fading was uneven and the man in the photograph was smiling and the smile was wide and the woman in the photograph was smiling and the smile was small and the child in the photograph was smiling and the smile was open and the teeth were visible and the teeth were white and the white was white and the photograph was on the table and the dust was on the photograph and the dust was on the white border and the dust was on the white shirt and the dust was on the white teeth and the dust was on the gray suit and the dust was on the light dress and the dust was on the smiles and the dust was on the faces and the dust was on the eyes and the eyes could no longer be seen because the dust covered them and the photograph was gray and the photograph was one thing with the rest of the world.

The stove was in the corner of the room and the stove was cast iron and the stove was black and the black was faded in places and the fading was from heat and the stove had been hot for seventy-three years and the stove had burned coal and then wood and then dried dung and then dried cow chips and now it burned nothing and the fire had been out for four days and the ashes were inside the stove and the ashes were gray and the ashes were fine and the ashes had been swept from the grate three times since the fire went out and the ashes had been thrown into a metal bucket and the bucket was in the corner and the bucket was full of ash and the bucket was full and the bucket was not emptied because there was nowhere to put the ash and the ground was hard and the ground was dust and the ash on the ground would blow away and the ash in the bucket stayed and the bucket stayed and the stove stayed and the stove was cold and the cold was in the iron and the iron was cold and the cold was in the room and the room was cold and the cold was in the photograph and the cold was in the table and the cold was in the tractor and the cold was in the field and the cold was in the wind and the wind was cold and the wind carried the cold and the cold carried the dust and the dust carried the cold and the cold and the dust were the same thing.

The dress was in the cupboard and the cupboard was in the bedroom and the bedroom was small and the bedroom had no window and the bedroom was dark and the dress was hanging on a hook and the hook was rusted and the rust was brown and the rust had stained the shoulder of the dress and the stain was the color of dried blood and the dress was cotton and the cotton was blue and the blue was faded and the fading was from sun and the dress had been hung outside to dry since the spring of 1931 and the sun had bleached the blue to gray and the gray was the color of the dust and the dress was the color of the dust and the dress was gray and the dress matched the world and the dress did not stand out and the dress was invisible and the dress was hidden in the dark cupboard and the dark cupboard was hidden behind a sheet because the cupboard door was missing and the sheet was white and the sheet was gray and the sheet was the color of the dust and the sheet covered the cupboard and the cupboard covered the dress and the dress covered the hooks and the hooks covered the wall and the wall was wood and the wood was gray and the world was gray.

The shoes were under the bed and the shoes were leather and the leather was cracked and the cracks were in the toe of the left shoe and the toe was folded inward and the fold was from walking and the walking had been hard and the ground had been hard and the hard ground had cracked the hard leather and the leather had not been conditioned and the leather had dried and the leather had cracked and the cracks were filled with dust and the dust was in the cracks and the dust was part of the shoe now and the shoe contained the world and the world was in the shoe and the shoe was small and the shoe belonged to the child and the child had grown and the shoe was too small for the child now and the shoe was under the bed and the shoe had not been worn in six months and the shoe was waiting and the shoe would not be worn because there was no ground to walk on that was not dust and there was no walking that was not toward leaving and the leaving had not happened yet and the shoes waited and the dust covered the shoes and the dust was in the shoes and the shoes were full of dust and the dust was the interior of the shoe and the shoe was a container for dust and the container and the content were the same.

The well was behind the house and the well was eight feet wide and the well was lined with stone and the stone was gray and the stone was wet at the bottom and the bottom was twenty feet down and the water was fifteen feet down and the water was brown and the water was not drinkable and the water had been brown since the dust started and the dust had gotten into the well and the dust had settled on the surface and the dust had mixed with the water and the water was muddy and the bucket had been lowered and the bucket had been pulled up and the bucket had contained brown water and the brown water had been set on the table and the brown water had sat on the table and the brown water had been poured into a pot and the pot had been set on the cold stove and the pot had not been heated because there was no fire and the water had not been boiled and the water had sat in the pot and the water had sat in the pot for three days and a skin had formed on the surface and the skin was gray and the skin was dust that had fallen into the pot and the pot was covered with a plate and the plate was chipped and the chip was on the rim and the chip was from being set down hard and being set down hard had been common and being common had been normal and the normal had been brown water and gray skin and dust and the dust was everything and the everything was dust and the dust was the tractor and the dust was the table and the dust was the photograph and the dust was the stove and the dust was the dress and the dust was the shoes and the dust was the well and the dust was the water and the water was dust and the dust was the sky and the sky was dust and the dust was the wind and the wind was dust and the dust was the field and the field was dust and the field was gone and the field was dust and the dust was the world and the world was dust and the things remained and the things were gray and the things held dust and the dust was inside the things and the things were the dust and the dust was the only thing and the things were placeholders for dust and the dust was the substance and the things were empty and the empty was full of dust and the full was the dust and the dust was everything and the everything was a tractor and a table and a photograph and a stove and a dress and shoes and a well and a field and a sky and a wind and a house and a room and a cupboard and a bed and a bucket and a pot and a plate and the things were there and the dust was there and the there was the only word and the only word was dust and the dust was on the photograph and the photograph showed faces and the faces were covered and the covered faces could not be seen and the unseen faces were in the photograph and the photograph was on the table and the table was in the house and the house was on the field and the field was gone and the gone was dust and the dust was here and the here was gone and the gone was here and the things remained and the dust covered them and the dust was the covering and the covering was the world and the world was dust.